The invention relates to three-dimensional fabrication, and more particularly to techniques for printing with multiple build materials.
Some current three-dimensional printers are capable of using multiple build materials such as materials with different colors or materials with different structural or functional properties. In general, tool instructions for these multi-material printers are generated for each type of build material independently, which foregoes opportunities to optimize fabrication for the global structure. For example, useful opportunities might be missed to bridge large gaps or minimize material switching within support structures. There remains a need for improved model processing to handle creation of printing tool instructions for objects that use multiple build materials.